Ball-catapulting golf practice club



1956 c. JACUZZI 2,743,930

BALL-CATAPULTING GOLF fRACTICE CLUB Filed Dec. 16, 1953 1" "W Y MK VUnited States Patentf) 2,743,930v t. I

BALL-CATAPULTING GOLF PRACTICE CLUB Candido Jacuzzi, Lafayettgcalif.Application December 16,1953, Serial No. 398,580 3 Claims. (01. 273-1 932" i This invention relates to ball-catapulting devices, and moreparticularly to a club adapted to be swung in the manner of a golf clubto thereby combinationally hurl and drive a ball, such as a golf ball,therefrom.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a golf club havingcup-shaped head means adapted toreceive a compressible ball, such as agolf ball, spring means associated with said head means adapted toretain the ball therein during both the back swing and the down swing ofthe club, and lever means pivotally carried by the head means andcomposed of a hammer portion and a dependent trigger portion adaptedwhen said latter portion strikes a fixed tee, or the ground, to causesaid hammer portion to propel the ball from the head means at a highvelocity.

While it is appreciated that the use of the club of the invention is notsanctioned by the rules of the game of golf in their present state, itis contemplated that the subject club may be used as a practice deviceby golfers for the purpose of developing a grooved swing. In thisconnection, golfers as a whole generally experience the fact that aprefatory practice swing, with no ball in place on the ground, isgenerally smoother, more rhythimical, and less hurried than an actualswing where a golfer is not infrequently imbued with the obsession thatthe distance the ball will travel is directly proportional to the sheerphysical force exerted during the swing. With the club of the invention,the average golfer, or duifer, may practice his swing without developinga-fixation complex in attempting to focus on a ground-positioned ball,while at the same time a ball will leave the club head and travelsubstantially the same distance as though it were struck by aconventional club from a ground position. Also, since the club headcannot be pushed or pulled across the face of the ball, the ball willtravel from the club without any appreciable degree of hooking orslicing action. With any hooking and slicing tendency being out of mind,the use of the subject club should be conducive to the development of aswing which, when a conventional club is employed in an actual game,will not induce such deviational tendencies of the ball;

With the aforementioned objects and advantages in mind, the structureand mode of operation of the club of the invention will be apparent fromthe following description taken in conjunction with the drawing formingpart of this specification, and in which:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the club head portion of the clubof the invention;

Figure 2 is a view in front elevation of the club head of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a view in vertical section of the club head showing, indotted outline, the attitude of the lever means prior to release of theball, and, in solid outline, the attitude of the lever means after theball has been propelled from the club head.

With reference to the drawing, the club comprises a preferably hollowtubular shaft which terminates at its upper end, not shown, in aconventional gripiand which terminates at its lower end in a hoselmember 12, said hosel member being preferably integral with asemi-spherical head 14. Disposed within recesses .16; formed at oppositesides of head 14 are spring clips" 18 having their inner ends 20secured, as by. brazing, to the head and having their outer ends 22inturned to yieldingly retain a golf ball 24 within the head].

Pivotally secured, as by pin 28, between spaced lug. members 26 formedintegral with the head 14 is a lever' indicated generally by 30, saidlever having a normally depending, or trigger, portion 32 and a hammerportion 34 terminating in a ball-striking pad 36, said lever portion 434 and end pad 36 normally residing within a complementally formed andvertically disposed slot 38 defined in head 14. Lever portions 34 and 36are normally positioned with their inside surfaces substantially flushwith the adjacent inside surfaces of head 14, said portions beingprevented from being moved in a clockwise direction, with reference toFigures'l and 2, by rib-like webs 40, integral with the head, adapted toengage the rearward side of the pad, or hammer head, portion 36 andthereby serve as stop members therefor.

The trigger arm portion 32 of lever 30 is provided at its lower end withan enlarged and preferably ballshaped portion 42 which, upon actuationof the lever 30 in the manner hereinafter described, is prevented, byvirtue of its size, from passing through slot 38 of the head, therebyarresting the counterclockwise movement of lever arm 34 in the solidline position of Figure 3 and thus preventing it from striking orcontacting the lever-actuating tee 44, or the ground.

The club is employed in the following manner: A golf ball is insertedwithin the head to be yieldingly retained therein by spring clips 18during the course of the back swing and the ensuing down swing, it beingpointed out that at the top of a full back swing the open end of thecup-shaped head 14 is disposed upwardly; and the club is then swung inthe conventional manner to bring the enlarged portion 42 of trigger armportion 32 of lever 30 into striking engagement with an enlargedground-anchored tee 44, which may preferably be rubbercovered, to causethe lever 30 to be abruptly moved from the dotted line position ofFigure 3 to the solid line position, thereby causing the pad, or hammerhead, portion 36 of the lever to strike the ball 24 and thus drivinglypropel it from the cup-shaped head.

It is pointed out that the shorter the lever portion 32 is with respectto the length of lever portion 34, the faster the speed of travel ofportion 34 will be upon impact, and therefore the greater the distancethe ball will be driven from head 14.

What is claimed is:

l. A device of the-class described comprising a shaft, a cup-like headsecured to the lower end of said shaft having a forwardly openingsubstantially semi-spherical cavity adapted to envelop and closely fitaround approximately one half of the surface of a compressible ball,said head having a slot formed in the rearward side thereof, means toretain said ball within said cavity against ejection therefrom under theinfluence of a casual swinging of said club, and lever means pivotallycarried by said head having a normally depending groundengageableportion and a ball-engageable portion integral therewith operable uponengagement of said firstmentioned portion with the ground during anoncasual swing of said club to abruptly pivot to cause saidsecond-mentioned portion to pivotally move through said slot and drivesaid ball from said head.

2. A club having a golf club-like shaft and grip and cup-shaped ballholder means semi-complemental to a golf ball fixedly carried at thelower end of said shaft Patented Mey- 1,111955 whereby a golf ball maybe rotatably accelerated by swinging movement of said shaft to have avelocity of movement equal to that of said cup-shaped holder means, anopening formed in the rearward portion of said cupshaped holder meansand lever means pivotally carried by said cup-shapedholder means havinga ground-engageable trigger portion and a ball-engageable hammerportion, with said latter portion being adapted to be pivotally movedthrough said opening to strikingly compress said ball and cause saidball to be propelled out of said holder means when said trigger portionengages the ground at the low point of swing.

3. A club comprising a golf club-like shaft, ball-carrier means disposedat the lower end of said shaft to rotatably whirl said ball by swingingmovement of said club and to release said ball along a path tangentialto the low point of the are of movement of said means, andground-contacting and ball-impacting lever means pivotally attached tosaid ball carrier means and adapted to abruptly propel said ball fromsaid carrier means when said low point is reached.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,192,308 Hicks July 25, 1916 1,994,207 Ahles Mar. 12, 1935 2,383,210Patterson Aug. 21, 1945

